Essay song and poetry

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SONG AND POETRY FOR YOUNG LEARNERS PISMP TESL SEMESTER III, JANUARY 2014 INTAKE

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SELECTED

POEM

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Sea Animals

What do you see in the sea?

Animals moving free!

Snails and whales

Using their tails.

Seals and eels

Looking for meals.

Catfish, flatfish

Chasing fat fish.

What do you see in the sea?

Animals moving free!

Meish Goldish

Retrieved from http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems21.html

http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems21.html

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JUSTIFICATION

FOR THE SELECTED POEM

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For the poem entitled Sea Animals, written by Meish Goldish, I had selected it as the poem

that can be taught in Year 3 pupils, Unit Seven, under the World of Knowledge theme. This poem

is chosen based on the consideration of three pedagogical principles which include interest,

proficiency level, and age and its purpose with reference to the primary English language

curriculum, which is the linguistic development.

For the first pedagogical principle, it focuses on the implementation of interest in the poem,

Sea Animals. This principle emphasize on how new knowledge about the sea creatures can be

used in order to attract the young learners to read the poem. In the selected poem, the knowledge

in identifying different aquatic life is created. For example, “Seals and eels” and “Catfish, flatfish”

show that sea animals have different shapes, sizes and colors live in the sea which can be

identified by the young learners.

The second pedagogical principle that can be implemented in the poem is the content. Based

on the poem, it only contains simple sentence with simple words. Thus this will make the pupils

learn and understand the poem easily as they can recognize the words stated in the poem. In

other words, the can learn and focus on new vocabularies. Besides, the content and the message

of the poem is clear as there are no hidden meaning or ambiguity when the learners study the

poem.

The last principle that can be related for teaching the poem to the young learners is the age.

It is important to recognize the suitability of the poem towards the reader based on age. Younger

age needs a simpler poem than the adults. For the poem, it can meet the needs of young learners

whose age around nine years old as it is very interesting to read and easy to understand. This

poem only contains ten lines whereby each line consists of two to seven words only.

While this poem is considered through the three principles, it also indicates its purpose for the

primary English language curriculum. The main purpose for using this poem in class is for the

linguistic development. The student can learn new simple words based on the categorization.

Furthermore, the poem does not contain too much words for the pupils to learn. For example,

they can learn new verbs such as “using”, “chasing”, and “looking”. They also can learn new

nouns, such as the names of the aquatic life such as “snails”, “whales”, “seals”, and “eels”.

In conclusion, it is important for the teachers nowadays to considerate the pedagogical

principles in choosing poem for the pupils to be learn, especially the second language learners of

English. This is because those pedagogical principles can help the teacher to choose the right

and the best poem for the pupils so that they can learn and develop their English easily step by

step. At the same time, teachers should know the purpose of using poetry in the Malaysian

primary school

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SELECTED

SONG

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Rain, Rain, Go Away

Rain, rain go away,

Come again another day,

Daddy wants to play,

Rain, rain go away,

Rain, rain go away,


Mommy wants to play,

Rain, rain go away,

Rain, rain go away,


Brother wants to play,

Rain, rain go away,

Rain, rain go away,


Sister wants to play,

Rain, rain go away,

Rain, rain go away,


Baby wants to play,

Rain, rain go away,

Rain, rain go away,


All the family wants to play,

Rain, rain go away.

Retrieved from http://www.kidsworldfun.com/rhymes_rain-rain-go-away.php

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CD FOR THE SELECTED

SONG

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JUSTIFICATION

FOR THE SELECTED

SONG

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The song entitled Rain, rain go away, a nursery rhyme seemingly originated from James

Howell, is the song that I chose to be taught to the Year 1 pupils, Unit Nine under the World of

Self, Family and Friends theme. Proficiency level and age are considered for the pedagogical

principles of teaching poem to the pupils while intra personal development and moral values

become the purposes of the song to be taught in class.

Based on the structure of the poem, it can be taught in Year 1 class as it only contain several

words which is written repeatedly. The pedagogical principle of proficiency level is emphasized

as the Year 1 pupils will have the chance to focus on minimum pronunciation only. Besides, the

tempo of the song is moderate so that the pupils can follow the song and the words given can be

read and pronounced easily by the pupils such as “rain”, “go” and “away”. This poem also in

repetition form so that the student can practice their pronunciation on the particular words.

For the pedagogical of principle by age, consideration is made whether the song contains

complicated meaning for the pupils to learn. This song is suitable for Year 1 as it is appropriate

for them in knowing their members of family in English such as “father”, “mother”, and “brother”.

Besides, the song only contains simple English words for them to grasp of. Moreover, the song is

short so it can be remembered easily by the young learners.

Intra personal development is recognized to become the purpose of the song to be taught in

the class. It rises the awareness of the pupils through the song. From the song, the pupils will

learn that it is important to know the appropriate way to call their family members. For example, it

is polite to call their parents using “Daddy” and “Mommy” instead of calling them by their name.

The other purpose that can be considered is the moral values. From the moral value, the

pupils can differentiate which is good or wrong. From the poem, teacher can emphasize the

importance of love towards their family members. Aside from that, the teacher can teach them

that it is not good to play in the rain. The example can be seen through the repetition of “______

wants to play, Rain, rain go away,” It signifies that the pupils cannot play if the weather is bad.

To summarize, pedagogical principles such as proficiency level and age and the purpose of

using the song to be taught in class give huge impact on teaching and learning process in class.

The song must be selected carefully as it will resulted whether the teacher can use the chosen

song ideally in delivering knowledge or not.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Goldish, M. (n.d.). Can Teach: Songs and Poems - Others in and Around Water. Retrieved from

Can Teach: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems21.html

Rain, Rain, Go Away: Kids Nursery Rhyme. (2014). Retrieved from Kids World Fun:

http://www.kidsworldfun.com/rhymes_rain-rain-go-away.php

Essay song and poetry

Education

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